As of 2018, the Metropolitan police have been piloting a new selection process, which has resulted in major transformation. From new competencies to entirely new tests and assessments, it’s now harder than ever to pass the Metropolitan Police selection process. Luckily, here at How2Become we are one step ahead of the game. In this blog, we’ll tell you all about the NEW Police clusters and values, and how you can use them to your advantage during the Metropolitan Police selection process.
Metropolitan Police Selection: Why Has It Changed?
As one of the most esteemed and respected organisations in the world, the UK Police naturally have a number of values that they expect all candidates and employees to abide by, along with a strong code of ethics. In the past, the police have largely focused on the competencies of candidates rather than on their values as a person. While these values were still important, they played a secondary role. Now, the Met are recognising that it’s extremely important to hire candidates with strong values and ethics, and the new Metropolitan police selection process is a reflection of this.
Metropolitan Police Selection Values
Impartiality
Impartiality is all about staying true to the key principles of fairness and objectivity. It’s absolutely vital that police officers can be impartial when dealing with members of the public, and with their colleagues. You must treat every single person that you meet with fairness and equal consideration, and be able to recognise and reprimand any and all forms of discrimination. Police officers must be able to put aside their personal feelings or beliefs, and make decisions with clear logic and rationale.
Integrity
Integrity is another extremely important part of the police code of ethics. Police officers must be able to act with integrity and decency at all times, and be capable of recognising both good and poor performance. As a police officer, your professionalism is absolutely integral. You are a representative of the police – a role model – and therefore it’s fundamental that you can present an honest and trustworthy approach to the public. By doing this, you can build confidence from the public in the police force, and deliver a far more effective service.
Public Service
The third value on the list is public service. This value again links back to the police code of ethics, and is essentially about acting with the best interests of the public in mind. The police are there to protect the public, and safeguard them from harm. Therefore, it’s important that your decisions are made with this aim in mind. You must be able to evaluate different strategies, how they will be of benefit to the wider public, and take responsibility to delivering upon these. Furthermore, public service is about facing up to challenges and adversity, and overcoming these obstacles, to provide a great level of service. You must be able to engage and communicate with the public, listening to their needs and making them feel valued and appreciated by the police.
Transparency
Transparency is a really important quality for any police officer to have. This value is closely linked with honesty. It’s essentially about being someone whom others can trust, and who others can have faith in. You must be able to explain, verbally and in writing, the rationale behind your decisions. You must be genuine with everyone you are communicating with, and make a concerted attempt to build trusting and strong relationships with your colleagues. Likewise, you must be someone who is capable of accepting criticism and improving your own working practice. It’s very important that you can learn from and accept your own mistakes.
Metropolitan Police Selection Clusters
Clusters are essentially a group of core behaviours (hence cluster), which relate to the way in which a police officer should conduct themselves. There are three clusters in total, and under each cluster there are two competencies – so 6 competencies in total. Followed by each cluster, we’ve briefly mentioned which competencies it is linked with.
Resolute, Compassionate and Committed. This cluster relates to the way in which you conduct yourself as a police employee. Think about each of these terms, and what they mean, and how they relate to other vital personal qualities. For example, being compassionate means showing empathy for others, and demonstrating a high level of care and understanding for those around you. Once you learn to understand why people behave in the way that they do, you will be better equipped to understand the individual needs of different members of the public, and will be better placed to provide them with support. The better you can do this, the better it will reflect on the police as a whole.
This cluster links in with the core competencies of Emotional Awareness, and Taking Ownership.
Inclusive, Enabling And Visionary Leadership. Leadership is a very important quality for any police employee to have. All police employees must be able to motivate and encourage their colleagues, and members of the public, to speak out and help those around them. This is what ‘inclusive’ means, it’s about helping everyone and getting everyone involved, not just particular people.
This cluster links in with the core competencies of Being Collaborative and Deliver, Support and Inspire.
Intelligent, Creative and Informed Policing. This cluster is all about being open to new ways of learning and development, to ensure that you are working to your maximum capacity. You must be able to think analytically, and form creative solutions to problems. Being informed means that you take every available factor into account before making a decision – you must take an evidence-based approach to problems, to ensure that every decision is made with sound logic and reasoning.
This cluster links in with the core competencies of Analysing Critically, and Being Innovative and Open Minded.
You Might Be Interested In…
If all of the above sounds interesting to you, then you will be delighted to know that we have a new 3-hour seminar in London dedicated to helping you join MET Police. Check out our Metropolitan Police Careers seminar page for more information.
